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Schedule an Appointment

Click below to schedule an appointment with a Subject-Based Tutor, Adult Learner Coach, Peer Academic Coach, Technology Coach, or Writing Assistant!

Learn More

Welcome to the Technology Assistance page of The Learning Commons. This page is a collection of resources for helping students to learn the technologies commonly used in courses at USM.

NOTE: If you need assistance with logins, connectivity, or other access issues, please contact the USM Help Desk at (207) 780-4029, or visit their website: http://www.usm.maine.edu/computing/helpdesk.

Technology Coaches

Technology Coaches are trained peers available to help students develop skills and comfort with the technologies used in their coursework at USM. This includes Brightspace, Microsoft Office programs, Google applications, software used in online courses, and other technology tools used for academic tasks. Whether it be brushing up on Zoom or trying something new like a digital note-taking software such as Microsoft OneNote, our Technology Coaches are here to support you!

How can I schedule an appointment with a Technology Coach?

USM students can enjoy the benefits of two Technology Coaching appointments per week. Appointments can be in person or accessed live online via Zoom. Students can use our Subject-Based Assistance online calendar to view available appointments and schedule a time with a Technology Coach. For step-by-step guidance, please review our How to Schedule a Subject-Based Tutoring Appointment resource. Students may also call The Learning Commons at (207)780-4228 or email usmlc@maine.edu for assistance with scheduling. 

Technology Resources

The resources below provide additional guidance on the technologies used at USM, including links to videos and how-to tutorials.

The “Becoming a Successful Learner” virtual series in Brightspace was designed to help USM students navigate the demands, technologies, and opportunities of being a college learner. As with learning anything in life, it’s what you DO that matters. The self-paced modules in this series are filled with “doing”, including how to effectively navigate the Brightspace learning environment, collaborate with others via Zoom and Google tools, enhance learning with digital annotation or note-taking softwares, and much more! Enrolling in the “Becoming a Successful Learner” course is the first step to gain access to the modules. To learn how to access and enroll in the “Becoming a Successful Learner” course in Brightspace, click here. Once enrolled, students can use the following links for direct access to the technology-related modules.

UMS Academy offers university and campus-specific content along with more than 50,000 tutorials featuring college life, academic engagement, and leadership topics, plus over 1,000 technology training modules on applications including Microsoft, Google, Adobe, WordPress and more! The technology trainings are easy to access through your USM LaunchPad and content is simplified into manageable chunks for efficient completion. Students can self-select to view a specific part of a training or choose to complete one in its entirety. More information is available in our UMS Academy YouTube playlist.

The Learning Commons YouTube Channel provides access to our technology-related videos that are included in our “Succeeding as a Remote Learner” series, in addition to dozens of videos with step-by-step instructions on using various active learning strategies to help students achieve their academic goals. Click here to visit The Learning Commons YouTube channel or below to access our technology related playlists.

Below are links with additional information regarding USM’s most frequently used technologies.

For technical issues, including MyUSM logins, connectivity, or other access issues, students should contact the USM Help Desk at (207)780-4029 or usm.maine.edu/computing/helpdesk.

USM students, faculty, and staff seeking additional information regarding Technology Assistance may visit our internal MyUSM page.